IP: COPYRIGHT HOLDERS VS. TELECOMS: Edupage, May 16, 2001

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> COPYRIGHT HOLDERS VS. TELECOMS
> The United States and several other countries will meet in the
> Hague next month to discuss a treaty that would require U.S.
> jurisdictions to uphold rulings made in foreign courts. Critics
> are decrying the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign
> Judgments, which was first planned 10 years ago, as potentially
> damaging because of the global nature of the Internet. ISPs and
> other telecommunications providers are among the companies
> worried that the treaty would open them up to a rash of lawsuits
> brought from around the world because of illegally shared
> material sent through their networks. However, copyright
> enforcers in Hollywood see the treaty as an opportunity to shut
> down the global piracy of music and videos. Although the
> convention allows for exemptions based on issues that conflict
> with a country's intrinsic values, the American Civil Liberties
> Union warns that passage of the treaty would infringe on U.S.
> free speech laws. Other experts, such as David Chiu of the
> Global Internet Liberty Campaign, said the treaty would allow
> private parties to seek out foreign courts sympathetic to their
> lawsuits.
> (Washington Post, 16 May 2001)



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